


Tender Loving Scare

by arrestjellyfish



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Has Panic Attacks, Claustrophobia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Halloween, Kiss the homies, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Morality | Patton Sanders is a Good Friend, Panic Attacks, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Kissing, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27196532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arrestjellyfish/pseuds/arrestjellyfish
Summary: Best friends Virgil and Patton want to scare their university housemates the night before Halloween. The closet isn’t as big as it looks....So it was not the intimacy that made Virgil’s breath stutter as he was pressed into Patton’s side in the closet. No, the intimacy was fine. Welcome, even.It was the stifling heat of the enclosed space as their breaths bounced off each other. It was the impossibly heavy coats working like vices around his ankles, seeming to drag him down like quicksand. It was the all-encompassing, overwhelming, inescapable void of darkness that surrounded them like a black hole that crushed his chest and distorted his thoughts and sucked the breath from his lungs.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 9
Kudos: 38





	Tender Loving Scare

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: 'Whispers' with platonic Moxiety.
> 
> This was written as platonic Moxiety, but can be interpreted as romantic if you so wish!

‘Ow, ow, ow!’ Virgil whispered as his foot was suddenly crushed.

‘Whoops, sorry!’

‘Can’t you move over a bit?’

‘I’m trying, kiddo.’

The weight was lifted from Virgil’s foot only to immediately drop back to his toes. Virgil sucked in a pained breath and stumbled back with his free leg. Something large, clunky, and very painful met his knee. The vacuum, probably.

‘Pat, you’re stepping on me,’ he hissed. With a light shove on his friend’s arm - at least it _felt_ like his arm - his toes were finally released. He wiggled them in his sock, wincing at how they ached.

Then there was the sound of rustling fabric and metallic screeches that made Virgil want to cover his ears. If only there was room to raise his arms above his torso. 

Patton’s huffy chuckles made the swell of frustration in Virgil’s chest dissipate. ‘The closet sure looked bigger from the outside, huh? It’s like a reverse TARDIS!’ Then Patton clearly stumbled again, going by his small gasp and more screeches, presumably from the hangers on the coat rail. ‘And I’m sure getting TARD-of-IS,’ he mumbled after the noises had settled.

As usual, Virgil couldn’t contain a snort at Patton’s pun. He took the opportunity of Patton leaning further back to lean down a little and wrestle something from where it had wrapped around his ankle. A hose? A cable? It was hard to tell in the darkness. The pitch-black darkness. Virgil gritted his teeth as he breathed out slowly.

It was only a dumb closet, it was fine. There wasn’t anything sinister in here. There was a vacuum that should have been replaced weeks ago, some of Logan’s old Bachelor’s Degree textbooks, Roman’s lacrosse gear and painting easel, Patton’s French horn, Virgil’s SFX makeup box (he should really get that out ready for tomorrow night). No murderers, no monsters, no demons. The only things in here with ill intention were the two university students wanting to jumpscare their housemates.

‘Maybe we should’ve taken some of this shit out first,’ Virgil grumbled under his breath. He was more than a little incensed at the cable that snaked around his foot and the darkness that swallowed him whole and the walls that wouldn’t let him stretch or move or _breathe._

‘I dunno, these coats are a pretty nice cushioning for me,’ Patton’s voice mused. In quick succession, there was more shuffling, a strained creak, a metallic clatter, and a muffled thud. Virgil’s feet were immediately swallowed by a mound of heavy fabric, all the way up to his knees.

‘Did you just break the coat rail?’

Patton replied from the floor, wheezing, ‘I think it broke me.’

Finding Patton’s hands and hauling him up to his feet was no easy task, not least because of the other boy’s weight and the complete lack of visual aids, but Virgil managed. On account of the floor now being covered in jackets and scarves and a large metal pole, their space was even further limited. It forced them closer together, Virgil’s cheek being pressed up against Patton’s shoulder and Patton’s arm and leg needing to wrap around him slightly to keep balance.

And that was okay, really. A year ago, this closeness to another person would no doubt have sent Virgil into a downward spiral of overthinking and hyperventilating. Though since moving into this accommodation several months ago, he had come a long way in being comfortable with being close to his friends.

Even the idea of being friends with his new housemates would have baffled Virgil all those months ago. But he had soon found Logan’s monologues and structured routines and soothing words to be comforting and grounding. He had soon found Roman’s improvised singing and witty nicknames and melodrama to be amusing and endearing. Though it was Patton who had been the first one Virgil had felt truly comfortable around, the first one Virgil had allowed to see the real him. The first one in Virgil’s whole life who he could call a friend.

It was an unlikely pairing, he was sure everyone knew. Virgil had been so moody and so quiet and so, so emotionally closed off. Whereas Patton was so bubbly and so loud and so, so emotionally open. He couldn’t change who he truly was - and he was learning not to want to anyway - but Virgil had learned a great deal from Patton over the past few months. Namely, he finally felt comfortable expressing his emotions (his _real_ ones: fear and giddiness and confusion). He finally felt comfortable asking for help when he was stuck. And, though he still struggled to outright ask for it, he finally felt comfortable accepting Patton’s physical affection.

When Patton had first started bestowing friendly touches upon him, Virgil had always tensed. Not in discomfort, but in shock, perhaps, that Patton would willingly be close to Virgil, so close that they shared physical contact. It became easier to accept it over time, and with that came the urge (as yet unspoken) for more friendly touches. Each time that Patton squeezed Virgil’s wrist during stressful visits from the landlord meant that Virgil wished Patton would wrap an arm around him when they chuckled at Roman rehearsing for his comedy skits. Each time that Patton absentmindedly stroked Virgil’s hair during their Disney movie marathons meant that Virgil craved for Patton’s warm embrace and thumping heartbeat against his cheek as Virgil struggled to breathe in, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four…

So it was not the intimacy that made Virgil’s breath stutter as he was pressed into Patton’s side in the closet. No, the intimacy was fine. Welcome, even.

It was the stifling heat of the enclosed space as their breaths bounced off each other. It was the impossibly heavy coats working like vices around his ankles, seeming to drag him down like quicksand. It was the all-encompassing, overwhelming, inescapable void of darkness that surrounded them like a black hole that crushed his chest and distorted his thoughts and sucked the breath from his lungs.

‘This was a dumb idea,’ he growled to hide the shake of his shallow breath. Why had he suggested this to Patton?

‘No, c’mon, Virgil,’ Patton pleaded, curling his arm around Virgil’s shoulders to squeeze reassuringly. It helped a little. ‘They’ll be back any minute, it’s gonna be great!’

Right, Logan and Roman would be back from their evening run at any minute. They would open the closet and Patton and Virgil would yell ‘Boo!’, as they had discussed, and the others would scream and then laugh and it would all be so very jovial.

Virgil’s shoulders tensed up to his neck. But what if it wasn’t? What if Roman was so pissed off that he decided he didn’t like Virgil anymore and convinced the others to stop talking to him? What if Logan was so startled he threw his running shoes at Patton’s head and gave him a concussion? What if Virgil was kicked out of the house because they all suddenly hated him? What if Patton got hospitalised?!

‘No, no, bad idea, bad idea!’ he frantically whispered, chest heaving with rattling breaths. The air was stale and humid and not fucking _enough._

The arm around Virgil’s shoulders got heavier and fingers started massaging at his shoulder. He felt like it stopped him from floating away into the turbulent storms of his thoughts. ‘Hey, bud, look at - I mean, listen to me.’ 

Virgil scoffed at the slip-up but angled his head towards Patton all the same.

‘You wanna talk or count?’

‘Talk,’ Virgil croaked, fingers jittery and tapping at his thighs. He longed to wrap them tightly in Patton’s sweater but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Not least because Roman had knitted it for his birthday and would probably kill Virgil if he warped it.

‘Okay, we’re gonna talk you through it.’ Patton spoke softly, his voice like a soothing comfort blanket to the blood rushing in Virgil’s head. ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’ 

That one was easy. ‘You could die!’ Virgil shrieked, his own panicked words reverberating around the small space and grating on his ears. From the sheer adrenaline of his panic, Virgil’s body spasmed and he spun around in place. There was a faint crash as the vacuum tipped to the floor and Virgil collapsed back into Patton’s chest.

Patton’s arms held him secure. ‘I… I’m gonna be super honest, I have no idea how you got from _closet_ to _death.'_

It didn’t matter, Virgil didn’t care, everything was spinning. But he couldn’t see a damn thing, so how could it be? No, it was, it was!

‘Pat,’ Virgil whispered. He swallowed thickly (ignoring how dreadfully audible it was) and without a second’s hesitation, he threw his hand out blindly and gripped onto the first thing he could find. It was warm and it gripped back. Patton’s hand. Virgil squeezed it tighter and begged, ‘I really don’t wanna be in here anymore.’

There was barely a second’s wait between Virgil’s admission and his body being tugged and his feet being dragged across coats and hangers. Patton always was quick to act. 

They struggled past the collapsed coat rail and made it to the door. Right as Virgil’s free hand fumbled for the door handle, Patton stumbled over the vacuum and fell forwards with a yelp, their linked hands been yanked right along with him.

Both boys crashed into the unlatched door with a bang and tumbled to the floor. What little breath Virgil had managed to gasp into his lungs during the fall was promptly forced out of him as he landed on his front on the hallway carpet. Except didn’t the hallway have floorboards? Virgil opened his eyes.

Correction: What little breath Virgil had managed to gasp into his lungs during the fall was promptly forced out of him as he landed on his front on Patton’s chest.

‘Sorry, man,’ Virgil groaned, gathering the strength to push himself off from his friend.

‘Uh, boo!’ Patton yelped flinging one hand out dramatically. (His other was still clasped tightly in Virgil’s, and Virgil had no intentions of letting go anytime soon.)

The strange outburst made Virgil frown. ‘Bless you?’

‘No need for that when you’re already blessed by my glorious presence!’ a melodic baritone bragged.

There was only one person in the world conceited enough for that line. With a shallow sigh, Virgil rolled off from Patton to be met with the sight of Roman and Logan both looking down at them, shocked though clearly thoroughly amused.

‘When we told you guys to have fun while we were out, we didn’t quite think -’

‘Zip it!’ Virgil cut off Roman’s cheeky remark before it entered dangerous territory. ‘We were gonna scare you,’ he admitted, blushing a little at the realisation that they had failed quite pathetically.

‘I can’t say that I am scared,’ Logan chuckled, offering Virgil a hand to help him up as Roman mirrored the action with Patton. ‘Though the concept of walking in on our housemates being intimate - in the communal cloakroom, no less - was quite a disturbing one to behold.’

Thankfully, Patton giggled, so Virgil felt comfortable enough to allow himself to laugh a little too. They were both back on their feet by now and Virgil actually leaned against Patton’s side as they caught their breath. Roman and Logan were busy shoving their running shoes in the cloakroom and complaining about the broken coat rail.

‘If we were actually dating that would’ve been an awful way for them to find out,’ Patton said to Virgil with a cheery bounce to his words. He lifted his thumb from where their fingers were still interlinked to stroke over Virgil’s knuckle.

‘Would kinda be fitting though, right?’ Virgil muttered quietly so that only Patton could hear him. He was slightly shy about what he was about to do though still determined. With a glance to Patton, his lips twitched in a barely-concealed smile. ‘I mean, we both just came out of the closet.’

The pure joy on Patton’s face, the shout of excitement, his constant stream of giggles, the way his eyes absolutely sparkled with pride - it made the whole ordeal worth it, in Virgil’s opinion. He would gladly be locked in a dozen closets if it meant he could see his best friend shine so brightly. Okay, maybe just two or three, but still.

‘Aw, yes! That’s my boy!’ Patton squealed in delight, using his signature Dad Friend Voice.

It made Virgil scoff and pretend he didn’t like it.

Then something wonderful happened. Patton’s soft, thick fingertips pressed gently into Virgil’s jaw and with one last breathy chuckle, Patton pressed a firm kiss to his cheek.

A dozen closets. Virgil would gladly be locked in a dozen closets for that. For the way his heart jumped and his cheeks warmed and his heart sang in the short moment Patton’s lips were pressed against his cheek.

‘You sure we didn’t walk in on something?’ Roman asked where he had turned back to them again. He looked and sounded a little wary.

‘Just bros being bros, Ro,’ Patton assured with utter sincerity, bumping against Virgil’s shoulder amiably.

Virgil did stumble a little to the side (Patton wasn’t all that aware of his own strength a lot of the time), though he giggled nonetheless. For the first time, he didn’t feel as though it was worth worrying about what others thought of him. What did it matter if Roman suspected Virgil and Patton were dating? They knew they weren’t. Perhaps Patton’s displays of affection were a little more pronounced with Virgil than they were with the others, but Virgil thought it must have been that Patton - being so intuitive when it came to emotions - could tell that Virgil needed it.

With a faint jolt in his stomach, Virgil leaned his head against Patton’s shoulder and sighed happily when Patton squeezed his fingers in return.

‘We’ll get them properly tomorrow,’ Patton whispered, voice laced with mischief and concealed giggles.

Virgil nodded, his cheek rubbing against Patton’s shoulder and offering endless comfort. He knew that intimacy didn’t work for every friendship, but it did for them. He enjoyed it and, going by Patton’s beaming smile, so did his best friend. And that was all that mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are very appreciated!
> 
> I take requests over on my tumblr: [arrestjellyfish](https://arrestjellyfish.tumblr.com/) ♡


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